new pond digger from central calif

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Hello everyone,
I don't know where to start,,,so I'll begin with this all started about 20 years ago when I aquired an abandoned turtle. Then the turtle needed a friend, and then I needed a pond. I moved 4 times since that first turtle, but never got that pond...until 3 months ago.
Obviously, you can tell I love my 20 year old turtles, they finally got their pond! But, I wanted to be able to share it, so I could enjoy it as well. That meant alot of careful planning...but I still haven't a clue to what I'm doing!
Anyways, I do not have any help (though I did have the pond built by supposed to be proffesional ponders...but the liner around the bog was cut to short, as well as a couple other areas), i'm in my later half of 50 and have been left with finishing the pond project on my own. But, I'm ok with that, I just need some help and advice from people who know what they are talking about.
Here's what I have...it's 9 by 11 feet with a skimmer running to the waterfall which spills over in two places. One falls in to the pond and a smaller flow spills into the bog. My turtles can not get to the top of the falls or into the bog at all. Nor, can they escape from the pond, except to bask on rocks and they have a small beach area to get out and roam a bit.
I can't put starter plants in the pond, as the turtles will munch. So I want to grow them elsewhere, like in the bog, till big enough to transfer over to the pond...I think. Like i said, I need some help...

Susan

Here's a couple pic's. But right now i'm dealing with the bog burts out because...well I'll take that elsewhere. Thanks for having me and I've already picked up some excellent tips here on the forum.
 

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Ruben Miranda

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Hello
Welcome
I can see what you are saying about the liner being cut to short, the pro's should know that a 2' over run on liner is always a good thing for run off and all.

What kinda of turttles do you have
And yes they eat distroy my plants to even if they a big plants.
If you want plants you need to think hardy and strong.

For me Lillies and others just did not work they either ate them or broke them off killing them.

I would love to see a pic of where (Turttles) go and sun bath that you built and how you did it.

Ruben
 

addy1

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welcomecat54.gif
to our group!

Hang around, there are a lot of smart ponders here that will gladly help you out.
 

callingcolleen1

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Find a someone who has a pond without turtles, and maybe they can give you large chunks of plants that they have too much of for free! I knew people who had turtles at one time that I would give plants to, saved me from having to chuck them and the turtles were very happy! Either that of get a tub for fast growing pond plants like floating water hyacinths and start them in tub and throw extra to turtles!
 

fishin4cars

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Welcome aboard Susan, Nice Turtle pond. A easy way to get plants going is start with a plastic barrel about 12-18" deep put some pond water in, wait till spring and grab a few water lettuce. They will out grow a 4 foot tub in a few months. Turtles love to snack on them and they are hardy enough to survive with them for some time. Just not winter hardy. On your bog, I would try and block the flow to the bog area. Move the blocks where the liner is short in to give you a little more liner to cap off with. Then remove most if not all that rock in the bottom of the stream area. They are not needed and will be a muck magnet in a flow through. Do place a few at the end just before it returns in the pond. This will help keep the plants in the bog until they naturally start growing into the pond itself. Unblock the water flow at the to once the liner is secure and hidden. Then add water lettuce, parrots feather, water celery, water Hyacinths, or some similar floating type plant, these will grow and act as great natural filters, AND they will grow out into the pond and give the turtles a snack to munch on. I had a similar area on my old pond and although not a true bog it works extremely well at helping keep water clear and adds a nice attractive color and balance to the pond.
Do you have any fish? If not and you want something to try with them, try rosy reds. they sell them as feeder fish in many petstores. Very cheap fish. Throw a dozen or two in the pond and they will reproduce two or three times a year. they make a nice school and live about 14 months. As they get weak, turtles will naturally remove those they are getting ready to naturally die and the babies start the cycle over. They make a great balance for a turtle pond and are great indicators of water quality as they will come to the surface if oxygen gets low. they will start dying off long before the turtles would be effected if something started going wrong and give you a chance to water change or correct before they got harmed.
 
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Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone. I'm a bit overwhelmed with the bog problem right now...don't know exactly what I should do. But, I'm gonna look around the forum a bit, to find the proper place to post about it. Thank you, also for all the tips i got just on my first intro post. I don't feel so alone now...and can actually feel a sence of calm coming on.
Also, I will post a couple more recent pics, with the turtles enjoying their...well, I'm sure they feel is heaven. And, I really did build this pond for those very spoiled Red eared Sliders :)

Peace and Good Cheers, Susan...
 

sissy

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welcome and can i borrow some of your neat rocks :razz: Nice pond and boy it took long enough huh .
 

Ruben Miranda

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Hello
I have a idea and or suggestion on the liner prob you have.
I hope you don't mind got a little bored and I like to help.
I downloaded your pic and pointed out would could be a problem now or in the future.


pondtree-Sugestion.jpg
1. (Brown arrow) left side of stream
it looks like there is liner over lapping
You can put a few more rocks over it and pin it down Not sure but if the water backs up you could end up with a leak and arrosion.

2. (Red arrow) Right side
This could be a bigger problem
For example if you get a heavy rain and it pushes that liner down in to the stream and goes below the water line the pond water could flow out draining your pond.
A possiable fix I see rock on the other side of it is that vey tall rock or is it like only 2 or 3 inches high.
If it is stack that high It looks like you could take one layer off pull the liner over it and stack the other rock on top of it holding it in place and hideing it.

If that rock is already very tall (what we see in the pick is there tops) then if you could bring in something not as tall say 3 inches high lay that down and pull the liner on top of them
and put the old rock on top of the liner.

I hope I am making sence and this helps

Ruben
 
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Finally have some time to join in here...like I mentioned already, I don't have any help. In other words I live with one dog and two turtles, plus I am somewhat disabled. I had one knee replaced last year, and now my other knee is getting pretty bad. Not bad enough to what I did to the other one...cuz that's not going to be happening EVER again! I don't care how bad it gets...I'll grow Poppies first!

Anyways, thank you Rueben for doing that with my picture. That was exactely what i was going to try and address before putting the pond back together. Here's another pic of that problem with the liner, but should I start another thread somewhere else on the forum, concerning this issue?
pond pics 048.jpg

pond pics 054.jpg

Here's what the pond people did, to the liner edge of the bog, before I filled it...
pond pics 059.jpg

So I took the top layer of blocks off, but only just around the bog. I took too many off around the far end and got this
pond pics 012.jpg

Should I tear down more of the wall all the way up? I have large pieces of liner that was left over from a pond built up at the college. I don't want to have to rebuild the waterfall. But i am aware of the potential problems that could occur, due to the liner being cut off like this. I'm already exsperiencing some of it now.
I really just need to get my turtles back to the home they came to know as this

pond pics 067.jpg
pond pics 064.jpg
pond pics 010.jpg
 

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WELCOME, Susan!!!
I had to look at this thread, as I've had painted turtles show up in my ponds last year and this past summer. I live in the country, and have a farm pond on my 6 acres, so that is where they are coming from. I get them for free!!!
BUT, knowing what I know about turtles, and they are VERY similar in size and strength as the red sliders you have, I cannot imagine that your turtles would not be able to get in and out of your pond. I have straight up and down edges to my pond, and they crawl in and out with ease. I have seen them crawl up and over a 6" tall rounded rock to go from the pond into the bog before. Their claws are very strong, so just a fair warning, but then if you have had these turtles for 20 years, you are well aware of this issue!
I guess the main thing you need to remember with the liner that got left too short is you now have to deal with it like that. I have a couple of spots in my bogs that the liner is straight up and does not fold over the top edge of the ledge like the other edges. BUT, I put a rock up against it on the inside to keep it from falling into the bog, plus there is pea gravel holding it against the sides, and I've not had any problem. There is only 3" of space from the water edge to the top of the liner. NOT good, I know, but it is closely monitored. That being said, I had a problem in one of my bogs, and have heard of others having this similar problem, where the plant roots grew up and out of the water, and all of a sudden I had water going over the edge. This was a place that the liner was over the top edge and then a rock on top of it. The root system siphoned the water up and over the edge. I pushed the plant away from the side, problem solved.
So, it looks like you used the landscape stones for your outer wall, but are concerned about the places where the liner did not fold over them. It looked like the liner was high enough from the water level, so it was not that important. It looks like you had the liner well hid with other natural looking rocks. Just remember, wherever the liner is, it has to be well above the water level, then hide it with rocks, make sure it is snug against the rocks and see how things go.
The only issue I saw that worried me was the piece of liner that was obviously over another piece on the left side of your bog (facing it in the pic). I was hoping that was an extra piece of liner used for extra cushion for that large rock! Anytime you overlap liner, you need to seal that seam well, otherwise water can seep backwards and leak.
Good luck! We'll all watch and give our hints that we have learned along the way, but glad you joined and are getting pointers from lots of sources!!
 

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